Adaptive Technology Resource Centre

About Web-4-All

The Problem

Libraries, schools, colleges, universities, government offices
and internet cafés all provide access to computer
workstations. These workstations are used anonymously by many
users. Each has their own personal preferences, requirements, or
needs. Depending on the technical support available, users
presently make do with the workstation as it is, or spend a great
deal of time and effort adjusting the workstation to an
approximation of their requirements. Many users with disabilities
cannot use these workstations, even when they are equipped with
hardware and software that make them "accessible", because the
technology they need to set it up is not available during the set
up procedure.

The Solution

Web-4-All is the first technology in the world that makes it
possible for users to carry with them their user interface
preferences (including system preferences, browser preferences and
assistive technology preferences) and quickly configure public
terminals or learning management applications accordingly. The Web-4-All
pilot system automatically configured public access terminals
through the use smart cards. Each user's interface preferences
document is saved as a compressed XML string on the card. The
preferences document is created using a
preference
wizard program. Once saved to the card, the user can take the
card to any public access terminal running Web-4-All software,
insert or swipe the card, and cause the system, browser, and
assistive technology to be set exactly as they have specified. The
user is able to specify the assistive technology they prefer, as
well as acceptable alternatives if the preferred technology is not
installed on the workstation. If none of the preferred
technologies are present, the system will resort to a technology
in the same class. When the card is removed, the workstation
reverts back to the default configuration and all assistive
technologies are shut down to avoid conflict with other users.

Web-4-All Preferences

Within Web-4-All, preferences are grouped into three main categories: display preferences,
control preferences, and content preferences. "Display" describes how the user
interface and the content should be rendered, and lists preferences relevant
to technologies that offer alternative or enhanced displays such as screen
enhancers, screen readers or Braille displays. "Control" specifies
how the user interface and content should be controlled and applies to
various keyboard, mouse, and alternative input devices and enhancements.
"Content" specifies preferred or required content alternatives
or augmentations such as captioning and video description. For each class
of technology, there is a generic set of preferences that is common across
technologies within the class, and a method of specifying technology-specific
preference settings that would only apply to a specific product. A user
can create different Web-4-All instances for different contexts.

Web-4-All and 3rd. Party Technologies

An API has been published by the ATRC to allow assistive technology developers
to create Preference Wizard and Configuration Manager plug-ins for their
assistive technologies. With a common specification for user preference
settings and a tool to implement those specifications on Web-4-All at
public workstations, any user should be able to step up to a public workstation
and access the assistive technology they are most comfortable with using.
The implementation of this common specification will reduce the need for
technical support and reduce software conflicts with assistive technologies.
Most importantly it will provide a sustainable and realistic method of
maintaining accessible public workstations in public institutions and
businesses.

Invitation

We invite all developers of assistive technologies to explore how they
might have their assistive technology accessed at public work stations
through Web-4-All. A demonstration copy of Web-4-All's Preference Wizard
is included on this site for you to view first hand how 3rd. party assistive
technologies are referenced by Web-4-All users. Additionally, we encourage
you to review the documentation contained on this site, and to contact either
Industry Canada or the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, to learn how
your assistive technology and Web-4-All can work together. The complete
Web-4-All Preference Wizard Programmers manual has been included on this
site. To view this manual click the following link:

The IMS ACCLIP Specification: A Portable Personal Preference Language

The IMS Global Learning
Consortium, an international consortium that develops open technical
specifications to support distributed learning, has released a specification
that is of great significance to assistive technology developers. The
Accessibility for Learner Information Package (ACCLIP) Specification is
a schema and model for describing and recording individual preferences
regarding the user interface and the selective retrieval of content for
computer mediated learning systems. A large portion of the specification
is devoted to preferences that are relevant to assistive technologies.
This site includes the following specification, supporting documents and
an example implementation.

IMS Documentation

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